BNB Chain has successfully deployed the Maxwell Hard Fork, which is expected from the testnet. This launch offers fast, low latency blockchain performance.
Maxwell's MainNet Activation is scheduled for June 30th, 2025. Still, this deployment makes the BNB chain comparable to the Solana and Ethereum blockchains with certain metrics.
Maxwell upgrade for BNB Chain: What users need to know
The upgrades activated at block 5,255,2978 represent a basic overhaul of the BNB chain consensus and networking infrastructure. It significantly reduces block time, enhances validator communication, and improves sink efficiency. This is an essential factor for on-chain scaling of user and developer experiences.
“Maxwell Hardfork has been successfully activated on the BNB Chain Testnet…developers and validators recommend that you start testing your new infrastructure,” BNB Chain shared in the post.
The network paid tribute to Maxwell Hard Fork to James Clerk Maxwell, a physicist who unified power and magnetism. Similarly, BNB chain upgrades aim to harmonize two frequently competing blockchain priorities: speed and stability.
Reduces block time from 1.5 seconds to just 0.75 seconds. New technological enhancements will keep validators and nodes synchronized with this dramatic acceleration. This will prevent faster blocks from reaching the cost of network health and decentralization.
Important changes introduced include the rhythm of consensus and adjustment of network propagation. The epoch length has been extended from 500 to 1,000 blocks, and the validator is currently leading at 16 blocks per turn. This will ensure that the duration of the proposal will remain stable even if the block arrives more frequently.
Additionally, the gas limit per block is halved from 70 million to 35 million, stabilizing throughput and preventing network congestion and bloating.
In the networking layer, a new mechanism allows blocks to propagate between the valtters within 400 milliseconds. Similarly, improvements to range synchronization capabilities can help nodes stay up to date, even under faster cadence.
The impact of users and rivals on blockchain
The impact on end users is profound. With sub-second block time and finality approaching 1.9 seconds, the BNB chain is approaching a Web2-like experience.
You can instantly view transactions such as swaps, mints, and gameplay actions. This enhanced responsiveness narrows the psychological gap between Web2 and Web3, providing users with a fluid and immediate experience.
Upgrades open new design opportunities for developers. Real-time gaming, forecast markets, and high-frequency trading DAPP can operate directly at Layer 1 without relying on separate high-speed chains.
Meanwhile, the BNB chain has already shown strong momentum. Defilama data shows that the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) sector currently has more than $13 billion in trading volumes per 24 hours, almost six times the lead of Solana.
The BSC chain leads the DEX chain in volume metric trading. Source: Defilama
Data on the chain spectrum also shows that transactions per transaction throughput are up 37%, and that BNB chains are handling 12 times more transactions than Ethereum.
However, in block time and final metrics, the BNB chain remains at 87.5% and 99.21%, respectively, but less than Ethereum.
BNB Chain vs. Ethereum on TPS, Block Time, and Final Metrics. Source: Chainspect
Industry observers are optimistic. Defi Influencer Elja noted that BNB Chain's previous Lorentz Hard Fork reduced gas prices by 10 times.
Maxwell promises even faster speeds, better validator adjustments and smarter syncs, so Elja called it “even bullish” for the future of the BNB chain.
“The Lorenz Hard Fork has brought about 10x gas rate reductions and an increase in TPS. The Maxwell Hard Forks coming up will be even more bullish for Bnbchain,” Elja said.
One user reflected his feelings by saying that the upgrade should resolve the high failure rates they had previously experienced while selling their wallets.
As the countdown continues to MainNet, Maxwell Hard Fork is located in the BNB chain at the forefront of high-performance layer 1 blockchains. It combines the compatibility of lightning run with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and infrastructure resilience.
Performance at BNB price. Source: Beincrypto
But despite this news, BNB prices have only risen by 0.05% in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing it was trading at $674.08.
